Batwoman issue 9 is out this week. This being Trevor McCarthy’s first issue, I hope you all enjoy his work. And we also have guest cover artist Ben Oliver’s beautiful imagery gracing our book this month as well…
We’re finally putting pages for Batwoman 5 up in the shop, this next Saturday May 19th noon pst. For your enticement…
Here is the cover to Batwoman 12. I had planned putting this up in micro stages of progress, but simply didn’t have the time to scan and save each phase meticulously like I said I would. That will have to wait for some other day. So here is the basics as I usually post these things…
The rough sketch version for editorial approval…
The Black and White version. Here is where I added background details not evident in the sketch. Since the composition was going to be using a mirror as I was trying to indicate in the rough version above. I realized that for this image to work and have a recognizable use of a mirror, the cover needed to have full backgrounds as a scene, otherwise the context of the mirror effect would’ve been confusing. Background details for a setting on a cover has been something I’ve tended to avoid, sticking with design elements instead to present a more symbolic idea. But ultimately that wasn’t going to work here. So backgrounds got placed in to set the mirror context. Which plays into how the color would work as well to finalize the mirror idea, as explained further below.
The color version. You’ll note that the logo/text information is placed in here at this color stage. I felt it important for the image to work from a design idea properly, the logo had to become a part of the art directly, to play up the mirror effect as needed, so I embedded it into the final in a way that there is no other version. You’ll note I digitally did a mirror effect for Batwoman rather than draw that in by hand. I felt it best to handle it that way because of the Bloody Mary part is so bold. I think it would’ve been extremely problematic to have tried drawing Batwoman mixed with Blood Mary and then be able to have multiple effects in the final color. This allowed me to keep the style used for Bloody Mary independent from everything else. So the last digital additions, the use of a background setting, and the pop color of the inset stars and star panel against the surreal quality of the idea, helped to make this cover unique from previous Batwoman covers I’ve done. So thats good, I’m always wanting the covers to do new things.
Last week or so saw the announcement of the MorrisonCon guests, or at least some of them anyway, and I’m among that list. This will be my only convention appearance this year. Unless DC ends up needing me to appear somewhere for some very specific reason. My schedule is so tight that it just makes it impossible to do conventions. And my commitment to doing the Grant Morrison event was made last year. Right now I’ve no idea what I’m going to “bring to the table” so to speak, but I’m sure the event will be entertaining. Its turning out to be a really good group of people for this!
Here’s a link to follow particulars, location and stuff…The Con.